Irving Teen Court volunteers were honored on May 13 with a recognition dinner at Via Reál. The theme was “Volunteers are a Gift to the Community.” Guests included both teens and adults who have volunteered in the Teen Court program during the past year. Teens serve as attorneys, court clerks, bailiffs, master jurors and jurors, while adults assist with overseeing a variety of court activities and sit on the bench as Teen Court judges. Service pin awards, appreciation certificates and Individual awards were presented by Diana Soto, Teen Court coordinator.  Awards were given to Angel Rivers, Pinkey Rahman, Kent Kirkman and Mark Jenkins (Master Jury Recognition Award); Hubert Adjei-Kontoh (Very Professional Award); Rachael Frost (Extra Mile Award); Rachel Reyna (Great Potential Award); Alejandra Lopez (Great Initiative Award); Minnia Livaie, Gabby Okundaye, Dominic Greer (Committed to Teen Court Award); DeShavia Patterson (Most improved Award); Colby Liesman (Gret Attitude Award); Nicole Davila and Jessica Estrada (Team Player Award); Jasmine Miller (Helping Hand Award); Jordan Shelton (Rising Star Award); Jasmine DiLucci (Legal Eagle Award); and Rahim Akram, Dylan Cwart, and Justin Hillsmith (Shining Star Award).  Martha Tucker, assistant coordinator, recognized the graduating seniors with a personalized plaque and a gift certificate.  Graduating seniors are Alejandra Lopez, Amanda Nunez, Kent Kirkman, Dominic Greer, Pinkey Rahman, Robert Diaz, Angel Rivers, Pam Espinoza, Cynthia Nunez, Rahim Akram, Dylan Cowart, Osa Okundaye, Justin Hillsmith, and Cory Ladd.  Priscilla Pena, Teen Court clerk, presented the adult volunteers—Deborah Pritchett, Pat Head, Lisa Augustine, Karen Robbins, Glenn Holley, Sharyn Holley, Brenda Clark, Bill Tucker, Tom Wright, Pat Head, Deborah Hill—with a certificate and a gift. Judges Milton Sturman and Tim Whisler were recognized as being supportive of the program.  The final presentation was the Jean Griffin Award of Merit, which is given annually to a graduating senior volunteer. David Galvan, Court Services Director, announced two winners this year—Dylan Cowart and Justin Hillsmith. Dylan, who has participated as a Teen Court prosecutor since May 2004, is the son of Elizabeth Cowart of Irving. He is a senior at MacArthur High School and plans to attend Johns Hopkins University to study international law and policy. Justin, the son of Deborah Hill and Steve Smith of Dallas, has served as both a prosecutor and a defense attorney since May 2004. He is a home-schooler who currently attends Eastfield College. He will enter the University of Texas at Austin this fall and plans to be a pre-law major.